Spectral, an Open Source API Description Linter

Improve the quality of your API by improving the quality of your API descriptions.

Your API descriptions deserve better than "Technically Correct"

Spectral is an open source OpenAPI-linter, which can tell you not just if your API descriptions are valid, but if they are any good. Use our baked-in rulesets for OpenAPI Specification v2/v3 (formerly known as Swagger specification), or write your own!

Improve the quality of your APIs and descriptions

API description formats like the OpenAPI Specification are permissive and vague in many ways. Beginner API designers can struggle to know what to do, and experienced API designers can easily forget. It’s easy to create valid description documents that are not very useful. These documents might look broken in documentation tools, or not provide enough validation keywords to be useful for contract testing.

Spectral will point people towards the useful stuff, making docs, mocks, and contract tests more useful than ever, which in turn makes the APIs better.

Reduce decision-making and promote consistent API descriptions

Ask 100 API designers what makes a good API design and you’ll get 101 answers, but all most developers really want is consistency. Using a style guide, can reduce decision making and improve consistency for all your teams.

You can use the default style guides, extend it, or write one to match your organization’s style guide.

Use CLI and JavaScript interfaces

Spectral can be downloaded as a CLI binary for macOS, Linux or Windows, or installed as a npm/Yarn package with a CLI and a JavaScript API. Bake it into your existing tooling, run it in Continuous Integration, use it in any workflow you like.

Stoplight Studio Integration

Want to create and edit API descriptions with a visual editor instead of scratching YAML into a cave wall with a rock? Use Stoplight Studio, and let Spectral give you feedback in real-time.